CHAPTER 2: Adrienne Checks Her Reflection

Adrienne did not flinch. Women like her survived by making surprise look like inconvenience.
She turned slightly toward the dark window of the sedan, checking whether the parking lot light had caught her face at a harsh angle. Even in crisis, she worried about surfaces.
"Everett was ill at the end," she said. "He said many sentimental things."
Noah remembered his father in the hospital chair, oxygen soft at his nose, still asking whether the West Yard drivers had proper heaters in their trucks. Ill, yes. Confused, never.
Julian stepped forward. His voice was gentle enough to insult everyone listening.
"Noah, your father's estate has been settled. This is not the place to reopen old grief."
The place was exactly right. The cameras above the employee entrance were awake. The gate booth was staffed. The lot belonged to Marlow Freight, though Adrienne liked to call it corporate property when family needed to be kept outside.
Noah lifted the brass key between two fingers.
"Then why did he leave me the one key you could not find?"